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Mara Mozena
}} Originally from Eyrien, Nomara "Mara" Mozena is an exceptionally hardworking ARCA agent. Her current assignment is to investigate and observe Rahaavi Merari's actions, suspecting they will reveal some way to break the current interplanar lock. She finds herself, willing or not, cooperating with Merari and his compatriots to achieve a united goal: saving the being that communicated to them through the mysterious white mask that Tikos Krymmonas and Merari found together. Appearance Mara is a sylph with particularly angular features. As all sylph do, she is covered in thin blue markings, though there are particularly thicker ones on her face and neck, including one that curls onto her lower lip. She has also shaved one side of her head and swung the rest of her hair to the other side. She is rarely seen outside her ARCA uniform, which is adorned with a number of bags that contain multitudes of paper scraps, upon which Mara will take detailed notes of just about anything she finds or has found interesting. Personality Blunt and very straightforward, Mara often gets herself into social trouble by not tiptoeing around delicate issues. She is typically quite calm, even when affronted with insults or accusations. Her straightforwardness and thick skin has made her a particularly adept ARCA employee. Her bluntness can often lead others into assuming she is extremely socially inept, when in reality she may only be somewhat socially inept. However, when confronted with sexual topics, she will often be too embarrassed to even finish sentences, much less maintain calm. In moments just after extreme duress, most notably after her day at the Cathedral of Gears, Mara can lose composure entirely, becoming a blubbering and giddy mess of relief or stress. When in such a state, Mara is often easily influenced, weak-kneed, and will often find it very difficult to calm herself down. What she often first feels in these moments tends to stick with her, be it helplessness to stop something, admiration for others, even romantic feelings, or something as banal as an association with a ring. Mara, despite her particularly hard personality that garnered her the nickname "Arca Drone", from Vi'nami Argyris, she is often quite disorganized and has a distinct hatred of paperwork. Additionally, Mara embodies the inherent sylph curiosity, often getting into trouble as a child for spying on other kids. As well, she is extremely protective of her own personal information, even actively avoiding introducing herself by her full name. Background Mara was born and raised in Eyrien, specifically in Granau. Her father first disappeared when Mara was still a child, leaving only her mother to raise her. Occasionally her father would visit the two, but never stayed longer than a few days. Her mother would often tell Mara stories about the young girl's father: his likes, his dislikes, mannerisms, many small things. Amongst her other crafts and sculptures, Mara's mother would often paint the girl's father for her as Mara watched. Mara, despite trying, never found a talent for painting or sculpture, though in part due to the pressures of living in Eyrien, she did pick up poetry and calligraphy. She would never admit it, but she also likes to sing. In Granau, Mara was often ostracized, living in a bizarre world where she aged too slow to be friends with any of the humans or halflings, and aged too quickly to be friends with any of the elves. When she was still young, near the time Granau and the rest of Eyrien evacuated the Flock, a boy began to court Mara, insisting that the two date. Mara, eager for interaction and taking her mother as an example, accepted the relationship. When they were together, Mara often felt uncomfortable as the boy pushed her to make more advances in their relationship, but before anything all too serious happened, they split up, and both moved on. In retrospect, Mara regretted the relationship in its entirety, realizing that she had very little say in the relationship. Feeling used, Mara, by and large, avoided further relationships in the future. Mara lost contact with him entirely after Granau evacuated. When Eyrien evacuated to The Flock, Mara was only 48, still not more than a child for a sylph. Her mother had been worried for some time. Mara wasn't sure why until years later, when her mother explained to her that she had expected her father and he had never returned. The two moved with the rest of Eyrien onto Folham, where they took up residence in Taomielle, in one of the lower districts. Mara would often steal away to the upper districts, managing to find her way up onto some of the higher roofs, and stand as the wind blew against her. Occasionally the two would travel to Sylvaea to sell her mother's artwork. Once, Mara's mother convinced her to try swimming, whereupon Mara was whisked away by the tide, and, feeling cripplingly helpless, grew fearful of ever trying again. As a child, Mara realized her innate capacity for the arcane. This knowledge foremost made her self-conscious, worried that she would be too different and that other children in Granau would not like her. She would often keep her magic hidden, trying her best to be normal, even despite the marks on her skin that labeled her as anything but. As she reached adulthood, she began working for and training with ARCA. Her inherent predilection for gathering information made her a natural choice for their reconnaissance division. Thanks to her abilities and motivation, she was quickly and frequently promoted, until she reached the rank of Special Field Agent, where she began to cherrypick her own missions. When she picked up her most recent mission, gaining information about Rahaavi Merari's supposed ritual to break the planar lock, she was relocated onto Grozennach, where the ARCA presence is perhaps most evident. Her supervisor Azon Volrenio, currently remains in Eyrien. Mara communicates updates to him through the communications room in one of Grozennach's smaller ARCA buildings. Hackledown Descent As part of her initial intel, Mara determined a great deal of information on the goings-on of Rahaavi Merari, Vagrant Gnosis and Tikos Krymmonas. She discovered they appeared to be working with Razeiya Faoric, another Killoren like Merari. She suspected that their plan to go to the Cathedral of Gears and perform Faoric's ritual might allow for some insight on how to overcome the current interplanar lock. As a result she decided to investigate further, and, considering the problems of trying to hide while tailing them further, she decided to introduce herself when the time was right, which would not long after. Mara first encountered Merari, Tikos, Gnosis, as well as a half-orc named Vi'nami Argyris, and The Kid the day before they departed for the Cathedral of Gears. She was originally unimpressed with the group, though she found a particular interest in Tikos, who she almost immediately deduced to be a tiefling. She later went with Tikos to her house to pick up some supplies for their descent, where the two discussed the potential implications of Tikos' potential ancestry coming to light, and concluded that it was better for Mara to keep this particular observation to herself. The Cathedral of Gears Seige On the way to begin their descent to the Cathedral of Gears, Mara and the others encountered Rahmi, an associate of Razeiya Faoric. Mara initially was less than trusting of him, but after he proved his caliber during the Seige and comforting Mara after its conclusion, any thoughts of mistrust were gone. During the seige of the Cathedral of Gears, Mara was an active assailant on the front line, covering the eastern side of the barrier. After defeating the initial waves, Mara raced to the top of the Cathedral to guard the Machine Spirit, only to discover that the demon lord Ra'Kynir had killed the Machine Spirit. Ra'Kynir then alluded to the earlier events that had transpired between Tikos, Merari and Rro'Dalgo's feud over the mysterious white mask, at which point the mask cast some sort of spell, pleading Mara and the others for help. Guilty over the death of the Machine Spirit, but wary of the demonic stranger who had just killed a god, Mara was pleased when Ra'Kynir left, and fought aggressively to kill the portion of Legion that Ra'Kynir had summoned. Upon its death, Mara collapsed into a giddy mess, eager that the events of the day had finished. Together with the others, she went into the basement, wherein she found a magic green ring and a magical gauntlet that seemed to be stylized like the warforged. She has since not been seen without them. Mara eagerly took notes as Merari performed Faoric's ritual, which ended up sealing the portal in the Cathedral's basement. Rro'Dalgo also appeared in the basement, asking a mystifying riddle of the group: would they destroy to save? Rro'Dalgo then vanished, and from the pit the rift had covered appeared a massive Fragment. Together with the others, Mara dropped the central pillar of the Cathedral of Gears on the Fragment's head, destroying the Cathedral, and hopefully the fragment along with it. She ran with the others and the warforged back to their point of descent, whereupon she fell in to a crying fit once more, overwhelmed by the quantity and the notorious quality of the previously unknown factors she had had to deal with. Namely, Legion, Ra'kynir, Rro'Dalgo, and a Fragment large enough to swallow her whole. Reprieve Cooling Off Mara, the day after the Hackledown Descent, returned to Tikos' house, looking for answers. When she was greeted by Vi'nami, she assumed that Tikos and Vi were intimate in some way, and, embarrassed, struggled with communicating why she had come. Shortly, Tikos explained to Mara what she knew of the Mask she had found, and revealed that Tikos did have horns, cementing Mara's hypothesis of Tikos' demonic ancestry. Despite this confirmation, Mara did her best to be supportive, as she had identified that the potential of being a Tiefling had distressed Tikos. The next day, Mara returned to work, turning in a summary of the descent she had undergone, and was informed that she was permitted to be on paid leave until the next descent. Mara picked up her pay and left the wildly busy ARCA facility, only to run in to Tikos, and Rahmi shortly after. The three went to see a Blood Music performance, then returned to Tikos' house, where Vi'nami was still sleeping, and cooked some stew together. Afterwards, Tikos and Mara then went to Fanteros, a clothing store. At Fanteros, Jig, Mara's least favorite coworker, arrived, and, having earlier stolen some of Mara's notes, returned them to her and made a massive mess at the store. The two then made a stop and Mara's apartment. Mara confided in Tikos that altogether, she's a private person and is sensitive about people being in her personal belongings. As Mara was changing, however, Tikos discovered one of Mara's bags, and, in a panic, accidentally destroyed the bag and took the contents within. Mara did not notice. The two then went to the Eternity Library, to visit Gnosis, and to pick up some documents that Tikos had brought there previously. Mara went ahead, Tikos having supposedly forgotten a document that she wanted to bring along. At the Eternity Library, Mara and Gnosis informed Tikos of the contents of the book they found in the basement of the Cathedral of Gears. However, when Mara and Gnosis also brought up a "small box" that could apparently be triggered to kill all Warforged by severing the spirits' arcane connection to their bodies, Tikos realized this description matched that of the box she'd seen Kid holding. Once they were done, Tikos asked Mara if she wouldn't mind talking to her back at Mara's apartment about things she didn't want others to potentially overhear. Mara came to retrieve Tikos shortly after. At Mara's apartment, Tikos successfully completed her reverse heist of fixing the bag and replacing the notes into Mara's bag. Mara made Tikos breakfast, and accidentally revealed to Skylos that she harbored feelings for Tikos, making him vow silence. After Tikos and Skylos had left, Mara discovered the bag that Tikos had destroyed and repaired, finding the papers within out of order. Further Investigation Later, Vi'nami, Tikos, and Kid returned to the apartment, and Mara took Tikos aside and asked if she had gone through one of her bags. Tikos admitted that she had accidentally torn the bag and tried to fix it without Mara noticing, emphasizing that she hadn't looked through the notes, but because Mara had not noticed, Tikos had beaten Mara at her game -- gathering information without revealing her own or being noticed. In tears, Mara insisted Tikos look in the bag. Inside the bag was, in fact, a doodle of Tikos as well as her own name in calligraphy beneath. Between the stammering and tears, Mara admitted to "never being able to stop thinking" about Tikos and finding her fascinating. Tikos relented and asked if Mara would want to go to Fleismenos still, leaving Mara delighted, despite her tears. Tikos then excused herself, saying she planned to visit her parents' house. Mara, Vi'nami and Kid then examined a mask they had found, which supposedly belonged to one of the Smiling Children. Vi'nami left, and Mara invited Kid to stay at her apartment for the time being. That evening, Mara returned to ARCA, and spoke with Doctor Salazen, the Necromancy expert of the Eyrieni branch of ARCA. Doctor Salazen explained to her the phenomenon of Necroinertia, and that despite necromancy and resurrection no longer working properly, many necromancers still attempted the spells nonetheless. Attempting this would cause the necromancers to lose their minds, becoming fixated on things. The most common fixation was a downward-facing crescent, which is easily seen as a smile. This, supposedly, is where the Smiling Children came from. Mara then returned to her apartment, and explained her findings to Kid. The two fell asleep, snacking on Mara's couch. Miscellany Image Gallery MegaMara.png The Weirdo Soulmates Cooking Club.png|Weirdo Soulmates Cooking Club! Mara by Sarah.png Category:Flock Category:Player Characters